Knitting machine



Sept. 18 1923.

L. ROBACZYNSKI KNITTING MACHINE Filed May 4. 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Q mm mm m. 18, 1923, 3,468,513 L. ROBACZYNSKI KNITTING MACHINE Filed May 4. 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 L IN Swvcntoz $3M i/S @bfocmua/L Patent Sept. 1%, H923.

LADISLAUS ROBACZYNSKI, 0F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

KNITTING nacnmn Application filed May 4,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LADISLAUS RoBAozYN- SKI, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Knitting Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to knitting machines, more particularly to knitting machines of the flat type having straight racks, and is directed to the provlsion of an improved knitting machine.

In knitting many fabrics it is frequently desirable to employ what-is known as the rack stitch for at least=aportion of the fabric. Thus, in making knitted neckties on fiat machines, many of the designsa-re based on the rack stitch, and this stitch is also employed in many sweaters for a border along the bottom, at the ends of the cuffs, for a narrow strip on both sides of the shoulder seams, and at the places where the stitch changes, such for example, asfrom the half cardigan stitch to the plain rib stitch for the cult.-

The rack stitch is a development of either the half or the full cardigan stitch, and is made by shifting the needle plates or racks longitudinally of one another, one or more needles, while the machine is knitting one or the other of these cardigan stitches. In order to properly form the rack stitch, however, the needle plates should first be separated, or opened up, by a transverse movement relative to one another, then they should be slid longitudinally, that is, racked, the desired number of needles,

and then brought together again into knitting position, these movements all taking place while the needle locks, or cams, are at one end or the other of the needle plates so that. the needles will all be in the position where they are withdrawn toward the needle plates.

' Some of the power driven machines of the prior art have been arranged to knit the rack stitch by merely racking the needle plates,

that is, sliding them in a longitudinal direction, without moving them in the transverse direction, that is. opening and closing them. In other'words, the needle plates are racked while in knitting position in which they are 1923. Serial No. 636,522.

relatively'close to each other and rather closely engage the fabric being knitted. Such machines, however, are not entirely sat sfactory for various reasons, among which is the fact that, asthe plates are racked over while in knitting position, some of the needles are apt to be injured by jamnnng against one another, or becoming entangled with t'he fabric, and the fabric is liable to be damaged, as well.

In accordance with my present invention, I have provided'a knitting machine having a palr of needle plates, with means for shifting these plates longitudinally with respect to one another, and also with means for moving the plates laterally, or transversely, with respect to one another, in order to open or separate the plates and their respective needles, and I have further provided power driven means operatively connected to and actuating both the longitudinally shifting means and the laterally shifting means. These relative motions may be obtained in accordance with my invention by-shifting either the front or the rear needle plate longitudinally and the opposite needle plate laterally, or vice-versa, or both plates may, if desired, be shifted in both directions.

My invention further contemplates certain novel features of construction which will be understood by a study of the following description of the preferred embodiment of the invention, which is illustrated, by way of example, in the accompanying drawings, showing a knitting machine having its rear needle plate arranged to be shifted in the longitudinal direction and its front needle plate arranged to be shifted in the lateral, or transverse, direction, these movements being obtained, in the example shown, by means of cams. In these drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of one end of a flat knitting machine embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in elevation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, the needle lock carriage being omitted for the sake of clearness;

Fig. 3 is a detail view of the racking and opening cams;

Fig. '4 is a detail view illustrating the timing mechanism; and

Fig. 5 is a detail view showing a portion of the mechanism for actuating the front needle plate.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings, there is here represented a bed 10 upon which the frame 11 of the knitting machine rests. The needle plates 12 and 13 are slidably mounted in the upper portion of frame 11 (Fig. 1), the rear needle plate 12 being adapted to slide in the longitudinal direction and the front needle plate 13 being adapted to slide in the lateral, or transverse, direction. The needles (not shown) are carried in the slots 14 and are actuated in the usual manner by the needle looks or cams appropriately mounted within the carriage 15.

In order to shift the rear needle plate 12 longitudinally, a strap 16 is secured to one end thereof, and this strap carries at its outer end a pair of projecting rollers 17 which are adapted to coact with a double cam surface 18 upon the faces of the cam wheel 19, which is mounted upon a shaft 20, rotatably supported by the framework 11. A pinion 21 is rigidly secured to shaft 20 for rotating the cam wheel 19.

Fonthe purpose of moving the front plate 13 in the lateral direction, I provide a member 22 (Figs. 1 and 5), extending a substantial distance lengthwise of the needle plate and suitably held by frame 11 to slide with its upper surface adjacent the bottom of plate 13 in a direction lengthwise of this plate. In member 22 a plurality of slots 23 are cut of the form approximately as shown in Fig. 1, and projecting pins 24 fastened to needle plate 13 extend downwardly into engagement with these slots. Thus by sliding member 22 lengthwise of plate 13, the engagement of pins 24 with the sides of slots 23 will cause the needle plate to be moved bodily in a lateral direction, either away from or toward the rear needle plate 12. The member 22 on its under side has a pair of laterally extending bosses 25, with the inner sides of which there co-acts an eccentric 26 rigidly secured to shaft 27 so that by rotating this shaft, the desired sliding movement will be imparted tothe member 22. A forwardly extending lever 28 rigidly attached to shaft 27 is connected by means of the link 29 to lever 30 which is adapted to bemoved at the proper times about its pivot 31 by means of an opening cam 32 which is constructed so as to engage two opposite sides of a friction-reducing roller 33 projecting downwardly from the short end of lever 30. For the purpose of opening the needle beds by hand while the machine is being set up, or at such other time as it may be desired, the shaft 27 may be rotated by means of the handle 34, link 29 being disconnected from lever 30 by Withdrawing the removable connecting pin 30.

The opening cam 32 is rigidly mounted upon shaft 35 carried by the frame 11 of the knitting machine, on which is also mounted pinion 36 which is adapted to drive pinion 21 through the idle gear 37. A ratchet wheel 38, secured to the outer end of shaft 35, drives both of the cams 19 and 32 simultaneously. A pair of guideways, comprising the rods 39, are suitably fastened to the right hand side of the knitting machine frame 11 to allow a reciprocating member 40 to slide thereon. This reciprocating member has a plurality of pawls hinged thereto by means of the bolt 41. Pawl 42 is arranged to engage the ratchet wheel 38 to drive the cams above referred to, and pawls 43 and 44 engage corresponding ratchet wheels 45 and 46, which are mounted so as to drive concentric shafts 47 and 48, respectively, the functions of which will be described later.

Means for reciprocating the member 40 so v These two strokes of member 40 take place Y while the needle-lock carriage is at the end of the knitting machine illustrated in the drawings and after the locks are disengaged from the needles 'leavin the needles in the withdrawn position. Tie motion of member 40 is imparted to ratchet wheel 38 through pawl 42 and results in the needle plates 12 and 13 being racked over the desired number of needles in the manner now to be described, so that the next course will be knitted in the rack stitch.

In the operation of racking the needle plates, pawl 42 acting on ratchet 38 rotates shaft 35 carrying cam 32 and pinion 36.

Cam 19 is rotated at corresponding amount by means of pinion 21 which is driven by pinion 36 through gear 37. The lever 30 is actuated by cam 32 and, acting on front needle plate 13, through the mechanism previously described, moves it in and out transversely, while cam surface 18 of cam 19 actuates the strap 16 to slide or shift the rear needle plate 12 longitudinally.

The construction of cam 32 is such that a double stroke is given to lever 30 for every single stroke given strap 16, there being twice as many summits S (Figs. 3 and 1) on, for example, the outer side of cam 32, as there are summits S on the outer side of cam 19. Furthermore, the cams are so arranged that while cam 32 moves roller 33 from one summit to a valley and onto the next summit, cam 19 moves outer roller 17 only from valley to summit, or vice versa. The development of the respective cam surfaces of cams 32 and 19 is such that, the cams operating as just described, the front needle plate 13 will first be moved outwardly, by cam 32, to separate the needle plates from each other; then rear needle plate 12 will be slid longitudinally (that is,

aeeasie racked over? by cam 19; then cam 32 will again move p ate 13, this time in the opposite direction from the first movement, to close the needle plate's,that is, bring them back to the knitting position. Cam 19 may be dimensioned so as to shift needle late 12 a distance equal to the spacing 0 any desired number of needles' As was mentioned above, mechanism ,is provided which gives two driving strokes to pawl 42 every time the needle-lock-carriage 15 completes a knitting stroke toward the right hand end of the machine, that is, every time a complete round is knitted. The first stroke of pawl 42 causes the cams to open plate 13 away from plate 12 and to slide plate 12 half way over. The second stroke of the pawl completes the movement of plate 12 and returns plate 13 to knitting position. In. order to prevent movement of cams 32 and 19 otherwise than by pawl 42, a spring premed retaining finger 74 is pivoted so as to coaot with notches 75 in the periphery of cam 1 It is not'very frequently'desirable to rack the needle plates every time a round is knitted as would happen in the operation of the mechanism thus far described. Hence appropriate timing mechanism is provided for preventing the actuation of the racking cams except when required by the pattern to be knitted.

This timing mechanism controls the operation of the cams by causing the engagement or disengagement, as is desired, of pawl 42 with ratchet 38, and it comprises an endless chain 49 (Figs. 4 and 1) which is supported upon the sprocket wheel 50, this sprocket being secured to shaft 47 and, therefore, driven by the ratchet 45, and, inasmuch as pawl 43 is always in engagement with ratchet 45, the endless chain 49 is advanced one .link for each'stroke of the reciprocating member 40, that is, knitted.

A pawl lifting lever 51 is pivoted at 52 so as to swing vertically on a horizontal rod projecting from the end of frame 11. On the inner; side of lever 51 there is a projection carrying a roller 53 adapted to lift pawl two links for each round "42 out of engagement with ratchet wheel 38, in order to prevent the racking ando ening cams 19 and 32 from being actuate by the continued reciprocation of member 40. On the outside of lever 51 there is another projection carrying a second roller 54 which is adapted to ride upon the upper surface of endless chain 49. Hence as long as the wide links 55 which usually constitute the greater portion of chain 49 are under roller 54, lever 51 will be raised and will thus lift pawl 42 out of enga ement-with ratchet 38. When,

her 54rides down upon the narnext forward movement of member 40 will cause the racking andopening cams to be actuated. The assembly of chain 49 is made with the narrow links 56 so positioned as to effect the racking of the needle plates in accordance with the demands of the pattern which it is desired to knit. In order to hold ratchets 45 and 46 in the position to which they have been moved by. their respective pawls, spring-biased locking pawls 57 are pivoted at 58 in position to engage the ratchet wheels.

The inner concentric shaft 48 on which is ratchet 46 actuated by pawl 44, is ordinarily used to drive a second pattern chain, (not shown) for the purpose of controlling other stitch-changing mechanism.

In order to impart the reciprocatory motion above referred .to to member 40, a plunger 59, arranged to slide within a support 60 mounted on the bed 10 of the machine, is adjustably connected to member 40 by means of the rod 61 and lock nut 62. Plunger 59 has a roller 63 mounted upon a pin projecting upwardly from the plunger through slot 64, this roller being adapted to be engaged by the cam surfaces 65 formed by a slot in the under-surface of a metal bar 66. Bar 66 is carried at the lower end of arm 67 projecting downwardly from a slide 68 which is movable alon a guide 69 throughout a distance somew iat greater than the travel of the needle actuating carriage 15. A driving chain 7 0, carried over a pair of sprockets, one of which is mounted near each end of the knitting machine, and only one being shown irrthe drawings, is driven contin ously in the same direction by power applie in any suitable manner to cause the rotation of shaft 71 upon which one of the sprockets is mounted. The needle actuating carriage 15 is reciprocated as is usual in this type of machine by an attachment (not shown) to the driving chain by which the carriage is caused to move backwards and forwards over the needle plates in a manner well understood. The slide 68 is also connected to the driving chain 70 by means of the device 72 and the connecting rod 73 so that the reciprocatory motion of the device 72 caused by the continuous movement of driving chain 70 is imparted to the slide 68 which carries bar 66. Thus, each time bar 66 approaches the end of its stroke toward the end of the machine shown in the drawings, the cam surface 65 on the underside thereof engages roller 63 and causes the reciprocating member 40, through plunger 59, to be moved a distance equal to one tooth of the ratchet wheels in each direction or one complete workin stroke. Another complete working stroke is given to the reciprocating member 40 as bar 66 recedes from the end of its stroke. In this manner, two successive driving strokes have been given'member 40 and, if pawl 42 was in needle plates during racking re needles are engaged by the needle locks and the position of the cams 19 and 32 is thus left in statuquo throughout the portion of each stroke during which the knitting is being done.

By the use of this improved knitting machine, not only can the rack stitch be correctly formed, but the power-driven machine of my invention will knit a complete pattern without attention from the operator, the stitch changing at the proper time required by the pattern, as, for example, from the half or full cardi an stitch to the rack stitch, or vice versa. oreover, the opening of the her of bent needles as well as the damage to the fabric both of which are liable to occur when the needle plates are racked without opening them. Furthermore, the opening of the needle plates by power-driven mechanism insures that this movement will take place at the roper time with relation to theshifting of t e needle plates.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I have described the principle of my invention, together with the apparatus which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof, but I desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown is only illustrative and that the invention can be carried out by other means.

What I claim as new and what I desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. The combination with a knitting ma: chine having a pair of needle plates and means for shifting said plates longitudinally with respect to one another, of means for moving said plates laterally with respect to one another, and power driven means operatively connected to and actuating said longitudinally shifting means and said laterally shifting means.

2. The combination with a knitting machine having a pair of needle plates and means for shifting one of said plates longitudinally with respect to the other, of means for moving the other of said plates laterally with res ect to the'first mentioned plate, and power riven means operatively connected to and actuating said longitudinally shifting means and said laterally shifting means.

3. The combination with a knitting mauces the numoperatively associate chine having a pair of needle plates and means for shifting said plates longitudinally with respect to one another, of means for moving said plates laterally with respect to one another, and power driven means operatively connected to and actuating said lon itudinally shifting means and said latera ly shifting means, said laterally shifting means being actuated just before and immediately after the actuation of said longitudinally shifting means,

4. The combination with a knitting machine having a pair of needle plates and means for shifting said plates longitudinally with respect to one another, of means for moving said plates laterally with respect to one another, and power driven means operatively connected to and actuating said lon itudinally shifting means and said laterafiy shifting means, said laterally shifting means beingv actuated in one direction immediately before, and in the opposite direction immediately after, the actuation of said longitudinally shifting means, I

5. The combination with a knitting m'a chine-having a pair of. needle plates and means for shifting said plates longitudinally with respect to one another, of means for moving said plates laterally with respect to one another, power driven means operatively connected to and actuatingsaid longi.

tudinally shifting means an a second power driven means operatively connected to and actuating said laterally shifting means.

6. The combination with a knitting machine having a pair of'needle plates and means for shifting said plates longitudinally with respect to one another, of means for moving said plates laterally with respect to one another, means for actuating said longitudinally shifting means, means for actuating said laterally shifting means, and power driven means for simultaneously operating said actuating means.

7. A knitting machine of the character described comprising, cooperating front and rear needle plates, means for shifting said rear needle plate in a longitudinal direction; means for moving said front needle plate in a lateral direction, and power driven means operatively connected to and actuating said longitudinally shifting means and said laterally shifting means.

8. A knitting machine of the character described comprising, a pair'of cooperating needle plates, a cam arranged to effect a longitudinal relative displacement of said plates, a second cam arranged to effect a lateral relative displacement of said plates, and power driven means operatively arranged to actuate said cams.

9. A knitting machine comprising, a pair of cooperating needle lates, a racking cam cl with one of said plates'to shift said plate longitudinally, an

- of cooperating needle plates,

naaama opening cam operatively associated with the other of said plates to move it laterally, and means for simultaneously actuating said cams.

10. A knitting machine comprising, a pair a racking cam operatively associated with one of said plates to shift said plate longitudinally, an opening cam operatively associated with the other of said plates to move it laterally, means for actuating said cams, and timing mechanism associated with and controlling said actuatingmeans.

11. A knitting machine comprising, a pair of cooperating needle plates, a racking cam operatively associated with one of said plates to shift said plate longitudinally, an opening cam operatively associated with the other of said plates to move it laterally, means for simultaneously actuating said cams, means for disconnecting said actuating means, and a timing chain for controlling said disconnecting means.

12. A knitting machine comprising, a pair of cooperating needle plates, an endless timing chain, means for driving said chain,

means controlled by said chain for shifting said plates longitudinally with respect to one another, and means also controlled b said chain for moving said with respect to one another.

13. A knitting machine comprising, a pair of cooperating needle plates, an endless timing chain, means for driving said chain, means controlled by said chain for shifting said plates longitudinally with respect to one another, and means also controlled by said chain for moving said plates away from each other prior to said shifting movement plates laterally and toward each other subsequent thereto.

14- A knitting machine comprising, a pair of cooperating needle plates, an endless timing chain, means for driving said chain, means for shifting said plates longitudinally with respect to one another, means for moving said plates laterally with respect to one another, and power driven means operatively connected to and actuating said longitudinally shifting means and said laterally shifting means, said power driven means be ing controlled by said endless chain in testimony whereof I afix my signature.

. ISLAUS ROBACZYNSKE till 

